Throwback Thursday Theater

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race has seen its fair share of fireworks over the years, but in the fifth edition of the annual exhibition race in 1989, those fireworks spilled off the track to create one of the more memorable moments in the event’s history. Heading into “The Winston,” as the race was known in those days, both Rusty Wallace and Darrell Waltrip had won three races each and it appeared that the two would be fighting it out over the course of theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Everyone knows Talladega Superspeedway as the biggest, baddest track on the circuit that has produced amazing racing and a plethora of memorable moments since its inception, but half a century ago, the 2.66-mile behemoth of a track in Alabama was just getting its start, and it was a controversial one at that. With the success of Daytona International Speedway, the first superspeedway project for Bill France, Sr. 10 years earlier, NASCAR’s founder wanted to go even bigger and with that, the dreams of Talladega tookRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Over the years, Jeff Burton and Jeff Gordon have had their share of on-track battles and some that continued outside the car, but in September 1998, the two gave Burton’s home state fans in Virginia a race to remember and one of the closest finishes ever at Richmond Raceway. Both drivers started in the top-five for the Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400, but the lead would jump between 10 different drivers in the first 150 laps of the race, including Burton, Rusty Wallace, Bobby Hamilton,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The bump and run. A move that we all know and love and one that is ubiquitous with the racing at Bristol Motor Speedway. In the mid-1990’s, Bristol was a race track with the preferred groove right around the bottom, often leaving drivers with one option to pass their opponent…you guessed it, the bump and run. Add in two titans of the half-mile bullring fighting for the victory and an instant classic is born. Entering the 1997 season, Rusty Wallace was gunning for his sixth winRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor We all know how dominant Petty Enterprises was in its heyday, as the organization captured 250+ wins over the course of its lifespan with Richard Petty, Lee Petty, and a handful of others behind the wheel, but after Petty’s final win in 1984, trips to Victory Lane would become a much rarer sight. Only three other times after that would a Petty Enterprises No. 43 car take the checkered flag and in April 1999, John Andretti would be the last driver to deliver a win forRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Racing at Auto Club Speedway has had its ups and downs over the years, but the annual trek to California in 2013 became one of the best races in the track’s history. Due to the worn out track surface, drivers were racing from the very bottom of the track all the way to the outside wall, creating three and four wide racing throughout the event, especially on restarts. All just an appetizer for the main event at the end of the race. With the race windingRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor It never rains in the desert, but when NASCAR comes to town, it’s almost a guarantee. For several hours prior to the 2015 running of the Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500 at ISM Raceway in Phoenix, the rains fell, pushing the race that was scheduled for a Sunday afternoon into the night. While the 312-mile event finally got underway under the lights, the field would be racing the rain just as much as each other throughout the evening. Early on, it looked as if KevinRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor As the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series packs up and heads west to start the West Coast Swing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, we’ll take a step back in time for today’s edition of “Throwback Thursday Theater” to the 2006 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 and the closest finish to ever occur at the 1.5-mile track. In the final race on the original configuration of the track, it looked to be another Roush-Fenway kind of day as Greg Biffle led the field to green from the poleRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor There have been great brother duos to race in NASCAR over the years, but one of the best was the combination of Bobby and Terry Labonte. Back in November 1996, the two got to showcase their talents in the season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Terry entered the race with a slim 47-point advantage over Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon after finishing third at Phoenix the week prior. He had done so while nursing a broken left hand that was injured in a practice crash. WhenRead More

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